By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
LAOAG CITY—The Ilocos Norte Grains Retailers Confederation has expressed opposition to Senate Bill 1998, a proposed law seeking the unlimited importation of rice with tariffs to ease rising prices due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
According to National Food Authority provincial manager Eleonor Andres, a two-page resolution was passed by the officers of GRECON Ilocos Norte Chapter as they appealed to the legislative body to further review the measure and urged President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to veto the alleged deceptive and anti-poor provisions of the rice tariffication bill.
Once passed into law, the NFA provincial manager explained, “The country’s rice industry will be affected as anybody can import rice.” As a result, NFA will be limited to buffer stocking that is only bound to local procurement.
Senate Bill 1998 proposes to amend Republic Act 8178 or the “Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996” to lift quantitative restrictions that only allows the government to bring rice into the country at a certain volume.
For GRECON Ilocos Norte president Ricarte Corpuz, he believes the bill will allow competition and solve the current problem on spiking rice prices but it will also leave every Filipino at the mercy of the prices in the international market at instances that prices will also soar to high levels just like what is happening to oil and crude industry.
“Without NFA rice available in the market will worsen the situation on rice prices because every businessman’s priority is profit,” he added.
But Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Domingo Ambrocio, chairperson of the committee on agriculture, said the proposed creation of rice fund worth PHP10 billion under the national budget will benefit rice-producing sectors.
He explained the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) which is a key feature in the bill will help farmers’ associations, registered rice cooperatives and local government units, in the form of rice farm equipment to improve farm mechanization.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) will also assist rice farmers in planting inbred rice seeds and engage them in seed production and help them sell improved seed varieties.
Rice farmers in the province also hopes that President Duterte will consider all the possible consequences should there be a need to approved it or not.
In 2018, the NFA was allowed to import rice due to the uncontrollable increase in rice prices.
Some of these imports made their way to Ilocos Norte late last year and were sold in NFA accredited rice outlets at PHP27 per kilo for regular milled and PHP32 for well-milled.